THE USE OF ZEOLITES AS AMENDMENTS IN RADIOCESIUM-CONTAMINATED AND RADIOSTRONTIUM-CONTAMINATED SOILS - A SOIL-CHEMICAL APPROACH .3. A SOIL-CHEMICAL TEST TO PREDICT THE POTENTIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF ZEOLITE AMENDMENTS

A laboratory method is presented to estimate the effectiveness of zeol ite amendments on soils contaminated with radiocaesium and radiostront ium. The method is tested for various soil types from Belgium, Belarus , Russia, and Ukraine, amended with either synthetic or natural zeolit es. The increase of the radionuclide K-d values upon addition of 1 to 4 wt% doses of these zeolites varied between a factor of 1.1 to 35. Th e results can be readily interpreted on the basis of a quantitative ch aracterization of the parameters that govern the solid/liquid partitio ning of these radionuclides both in soils and zeolites. It is shown th at the key properties for the choice of type and dose of the zeolite t o be added are the relative radionuclide adsorption potentials of soil and zeolite. (C) Elsevier Science Inc. 1997.